Throughout the course of any project, inspections are necessary to make sure everyone got it right. And “it” can encompass a variety of duties, from safety to deficiencies to commissioning to QA/QC work, all of which involve attention to detail and thorough issue tracking. We all know the diligence that these inspections require always pays off, but that doesn’t always make getting through them any easier, especially if your team is using outdated methods. So why not make sure you’re doing the best job possible by using a top-of-the-line construction management tool like Fieldwire? We go to great lengths to ensure that our app is catering to your on-site needs, and when it comes to walkthroughs and inspections, there’s no solution more accurate or less complicated to take with you into the field.

All Your Data at Any Time

The first step for any inspection is making sure you have all of the necessary data to know what to look for. While this may sound like a no-brainer, papers and clipboards both pile up and get misplaced all of the time, so it’s easier said than done. Thankfully, Fieldwire collects a complete cloud-based record of your entire project right there on your mobile device, meaning you always have all of your documents at your fingertips - both online and offline - while you’re walking around the jobsite. Any drawings, specs, submittals, details, cut sheets, and tasks can be referenced or approved on the go. If your crew has added new data to the project since you last checked in, it will sync via the internet to your own device so you’re never lacking important details. Having every vital piece of information in hand makes it simple to compare current site conditions to project standards, and makes the inspection process run far smoother.

Stay Up-to-Date in Real-Time

As your team updates their tasks in Fieldwire, that new progress is automatically synced with everyone else on the team. Best of all, those involved with specific tasks will be informed via email and mobile push notifications, so you can always track issues in real-time from start to finish. You can even tie tasks together so one trade knows when their work directly affects another’s, and you’ll know at a glance when each job is ready for sign-off. If any punch items or safety hazards suddenly arise during an inspection, just create a task for it and assign it to the appropriate person for immediate attention. It’s possible to duplicate tasks as well for repeated or similar duties across the jobsite. Task attributes such as priority and due date help identify the severity of each issue, and Fieldwire employs Admin-controlled two-step verification for all completed tasks to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. In other words, you’ll never lose track of anything!

The Value of Checklists

If a particular job has a number of steps that need to take place in a certain order, add a checklist to make this clear to your subs while they work. Checklists also make it easy to confirm that everything was taken care of while you’re on your walkthrough, so there’s never any confusion about who did what. Creating a checklist is a simple process on both the web and mobile versions of Fieldwire, and you can also save checklist templates in your project so that they can easily be inserted into any other tasks from that point on. Savvy users can facilitate inspections by creating a task that includes a checklist to act as a template for walkthroughs, then duplicate that task as many times as they like directly on their plans. All of the key attributes of that task will be included in each clone you create. This is useful when you have multiple rooms to inspect or numerous areas across the jobsite to look over.

Reporting Made Simple

If you want to document an inspection, you can generate a PDF or spreadsheet report to paint a clear picture of where your project stands at any given time. Reports are entirely customizable, meaning you can share as much or as little task information as you need, and can be sent to anyone you like. You can sort report content by date range, priority, category, assignee, and just about any other core characteristic you can think of. Every report template you create is automatically saved in your project as well, making it easy to edit or send it out again. And if you’d rather not even be bothered with remembering, reports can also be scheduled for specific dates to be sent out on a repeated basis. This makes creating inspection reports a lot simpler than jotting down notes and photos and assembling them all manually in a Word document that you then have to print and distribute in person.

5 Easy Steps for Inspections

To summarize, you can handle your inspection needs with just a few easy steps in Fieldwire. To get started with your inspections quickly:

Create checklists (and save the templates).

Add the checklists to your tasks.

Duplicate the tasks if they apply to multiple areas.

Take the Fieldwire app on-site during your inspection to add photos, comments, and make note of all the details.

Document the inspection by generating a report.

Inspections are an integral part of getting jobs done the right way, and Fieldwire is dedicated to relieving any stress or unnecessary steps from the inspection process for you. With a few clicks you can quickly survey, record, and send out all of your findings to the appropriate teammates and ensure that every aspect of the project is built to perfection. Now keeping an eye on the quality of your project really can be a no-brainer.

Fieldwire is free for small teams on Apple iOS, Android, and on the web. We already support 1,000+ companies across 100,000+ projects, and we’d love to join you in the field on your inspections!